Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Learning, Memory and Apoptosis after Amyloid Beta Injection in Male Wistar Rats

Considering the positive effects of creatine supplement on cognitive performance in healthy individuals, the present study was performed with the aim of determining the effects of creatine supplementation on learning, memory and apoptosis after injection of Amyloid β(Aβ) in male wistar rats. Twenty four male wistar rats (weighting 250±50 grams) were randomly divided into three groups (n=8 for each groups). Two groups were given a bilateral amyloid beta injection in the CA1 hippocampus (2μg per CA1), one of them received a cho containing 2% creatine monohydrate (AdCr+ group) and other group continued to receive normal cho(AdCr-). The sham group were injected by normal saline in CA1 hippocampus and received normal cho during the study. After six weeks, the Morris Water Maze (MWM) and Y-maze tests were administered, and learning ability and memory retrieval were measured. After scarification of the animals, TUNEL test for an anti-apoptosis assay was performed. The sham group performed better in Y-maze and MWM compare to the AdCr- and AdCr+ groups. The apoptotic neurons count in the sham group were less than in the AdCr+ and AdCr- groups; however, the results indicated no differences between the AdCr+ and AdCr- groups in learning, memory retrieval, and percentage of TUNEL positive neurons. After Aβ injection, creatine supplementation had no effect on learning, memory and apoptosis in male wistar rats.